Dreaming of Angels
by Yazzy
Summary: TalaKai. Kai meets an angel, but is he real or just a dream?


Happy Birthday Deanie! I hope your birthday has been wondercrump and marvellous. Here, have a KaiTala:

* * *

When Kai Hiwatari walked into his bedroom one fine afternoon in May, he wasn't expecting to find anyone else in there. Which was why when he did he was, to say the least, a little shocked. The person appeared to be male, appeared to be asleep, and was most definitely lolling all over his bed. Kai didn't know whether to be afraid or insulted.

There was definitely an edge of fear, seeing as he was the only person in the house- his grandfather was away for the weekend on business and the maid would already have gone home for the evening. Deciding that he would just have to be brave, he edged forwards. He could feel his pulse speeding up as he neared the bed, neared the crimson sheets this vagabond was curled up in...

The young man had longish red hair that had been styled in a completely ridiculous way, and terribly pale skin. He looked as if he'd been ill...

At that thought, Kai backed away a little. Suppose this guy had escaped from hospital, or an insane asylum? Oh dear God! He could be locked in the house with a lunatic! Fear clenched his stomach as the lunatic shifted, yawning.

"Who are you?"

"Hmm?"

"Who are you and what are you doing in my room?"

"Kai!" As the stranger sat up, his icy blue eyes finally visible, Kai started to freak out.

"How do you know my name? What are you doing in here? If you've broken in, I'll have you charged!"

"I didn't break in!" Protested the stranger, scratching his cheek and looking terribly unconcerned with the fact that he was in someone else's bedroom. Kai glared at him, sizing him up. "If it's money you're after..."

"No. I'm not interested in money." To Kai's faint horror, the stranger got up and walked over to him, practically pinning him against the wardrobe. "I just want to make you happy, Kai..."

As he felt the strange redhead press against him even more closely, Kai finally saw the truth of the situation and hit the stranger very hard in the stomach, watching with satisfaction as he doubled up, groaning. What...was that for?" He gasped, sitting down on the bed and looking up at Kai reproachfully.

"You're a prostitute!"

"WHAT? I am -not-!"

"Yes you are! Look at you! You're all dressed in white! And your hair! And you're wearing mascara and you're trying to seduce me!" The person on the bed contrived to look very indignant at that.

"There's nothing wrong with my hair! And I am -not- wearing mascara! That's how my eyelashes are normally! And I'm wearing white because I'm an angel!"

Alarm bells started ringing in Kai's brain. Angel? Madman more like. He scrabbled in his pocket for his phone, wondering if it was the police or the ambulance he needed for a mental patient...

"What are you doing?"

"Phoning."

"Phoning who?"

"Ambulance. And the police, actually."

"Eh?" A pale hand snatched the phone away before he could press to dial 999. "Why would you phone them?"

"Because you're insane." Kai tried to explain patiently. "Now why don't you sit down, and I'll find out where you should be, and they can come and collect you..." As he was speaking, his hand was inching along to the phone on the wall beside his desk. Unfortunately, the stranger noticed.

"Don't! I'm not mad! I'm telling the truth!"

"What, that you're an -angel-?" Kai snorted. "If you're an angel, I have three thumbs."

"Well. You should just be careful what you wish for." Before Kai could say anything, the lunatic in front of him had grabbed his hand and glowered at it before letting go. Kai was rather horrified to find that he now had an extra thumb. So horrified, in fact, that he screamed. "Oh, shut up." Came the unfeeling reply. "It's not my fault you didn't believe me."

"You...you...you..."

"I'm Tala, not 'you', and yes I -am- an angel, actually. And that's an illusion. Just wave it a bit and it'll go." Kai was relived to find that Tala was telling the truth, and a few waves of his hand, while making him feel stupid, made it go back to normal.

"So. If...you're an angel. And I'm not saying you -are-. But if you are, what are you doing in my bedroom?"

"I'm here to make you happy. Well, happier. And I can't believe you thought that made me sound like a prostitute!"

"It -does- make you sound like a prostitute." Kai sat down beside Tala warily, watching him very carefully. "And I'm still not sure I believe you..."

"Well..." The redhead seemed at a loss for what to say. "Well, you know. Principle of credulity. And that."

"What?"

"You should believe things if there's no evidence they're false. It's philosophy. Anyway, how else am I supposed to prove that I'm an angel? I already grew you a new thumb, what else do you want me to do?"

Kai sat, stared at his expensive rug, and considered all of this. In the space of about ten minutes, he'd found a guy in his room who claimed to be an angel and had given him a new thumb. Which had then disappeared. It was...rather a lot to believe. But still...well...the guy seemed quite genuine. And if he wasn't an angel, he had supernatural powers at the very least and Kai didn't want to end up on the receiving end of some horrific genetic mutation...

So...what do you want, then?"

"I've told you. Twice now, actually. I'm here to make your life happier."

"Why?"

"Because you aren't happy." Kai looked away, feeling defensive.

"I'm fine."

"Liar." It was a simple statement with no real malice behind it, but it still made Kai angry.

"What do -you- know about it?"

"Well, I can feel your emotions. I can feel that you're still kind of afraid of me. That you're worried about being alone in the house. That you're lonely. That you feel like no-one understands you. That you're still sad because your parents lef- OW!" Kai didn't feel remotely guilty about yanking the redhead's hair. In fact it felt rather satisfying. But this time, the redhead fought back- he shoved Kai off the bed and rested his huge boots on him, looking offended. "You're so bloody touchy, aren't you? I tell you I'm here to help you, and you don't believe me. You -asked- me what I knew about it, and I told you, and you pulled my hair! You're just downright rude!"

Kai felt a little bit guilty after that. But not much. When Tala lifted his boots away, he flopped onto the bed beside the redhead and looked at him out of the corner of one eye. "If you -are- an angel, and you -are- here to make me happier...well how are you going to do that? And why do you -expect- me to believe you?"

"Because I'm telling the truth!"

"So you just appear in my bedroom and I'm meant to believe you were sent by God or whatever?" Tala tutted at him.

"You're supposed to be an atheist. And no, I wasn't 'sent by God'. I just...happened. I came into being to help you."

"Yeah, but -how-?" Kai asked, exasperated by not being able to understand what was going on.

Tala sighed, laying back on the pillows. "Lay down next to me and I'll show you." Kai stared at him, incredulous. Was he suggesting-? "And not in a pervy way. Just next to me." Kai obeyed, feeling slightly weirded out by the situation.

Though he had to admit it was quite comfortable lying cuddled up next to Tala. Especially when the angel started stroking his hair and cuddling him. He had to admit that it -did- make him feel happier. "So is this what you're meant to do for me? Hug me?"

"Well. I could do. But that's not it. I'm just relaxing you so I can do the real thing..."

"If it's sex..."

"It isn't -sex-, you pervert! What is it with you? Now just...stay relaxed, because I'm going to see if it works now..."

"If what works?"

"Shh. Just be quiet. Close your eyes."

Kai complied, snuggling his cheek into Tala's chest. As he did so, a wave of...of lightness washed over him. A feeling of being carefree and weightless. Smiling, he laid an arm over Tala, holding him closer. "That feels nice. What is it?"

"Me siphoning off your pain..." A strained voice replied. It sounded so out of place that Kai sat up, only to realise that Tala was lying there panting, his face twisted in obvious agony. "Bloody hell..." He wheezed. "That hardly made a dent..."

"Well...hey, don't cry!" Kai ordered, feeling flustered as Tala's eyes filled with tears and he sobbed weakly.

"It barely made a difference...I could only take a little bit and then my power gave out on me..."

"Oh."

"There's so much hurt..."

Kai looked away, at a chip in the red paint of the wall. Surreal as the situation seemed, he didn't want to hurt anyone...

"You don't have to help me. I can manage on my own."

"I -do- have to help you! I was made for you!" Kai watched as a snow white hand grasped his own, squeezing gently. "I have to help you, because I was made for you and I love you. I exist for you." Kai couldn't help but blush. Not because what Tala had said was rude, but...because it made him feel...special. Wanted. "Lie back down again, and I'll have another go..."

"Not if it'll only hurt you..."

"Oh, shut up. Just lie down." A pair of hands dragged him down, clamping him against a warm body. "Now just...think about nice things. Let yourself go a bit..."

Kai gave a sigh of pleasure as he got that carefree feeling back again. It was such a lovely way to feel...like he had nothing to worry about. Nothing to be sad about. He felt as if he was about to fall asleep...

But then it was over, and he was no longer curled up in peace, but squashed uncomfortably against a heaving chest, listening to someone...Tala...crying bitterly. "I can't do it...I can't...I'm sorry...here, let me try again..." He croaked, looking down at Kai apologetically. Kai looked back at him and then sat up.

"No! Stop it! Just stop it! You're hurting yourself to make me feel better and I don't want that!"

"Well how am I supposed to take your pain away? The pain has to go somewhere, Kai! It's like...like energy! It doesn't go away, it doesn't disappear, it just goes into other things!" Tala wailed, struggling to sit. "Just let me try again...please...I'll take your pain...I'd be tortured for a lifetime to keep you happy...I can only take a little bit at a time, but I...I..."

"Well I'm used to it! I have it all and I'm not a sobbing wreck! I'll just keep it!"

"But...but I have to make you happier!"

"Not at your own expense!" Kai shot back. "Just lie down. I'm fine. You, on the other hand...you're practically translucent! Stay there, I'll go and get you something to eat-"

"No. No, don't go. Because I'm going now. You're trying harder to deal with your pain by yourself...so you're happier. Well. Yes. Not that much less pain...but you're happier."

"Hey...what?"

"I was made to make you happier, and you are now. So I'm going."

"No...wait, don't go..."

"Don't have a choice. Kiss me."

When he looked back on that moment, Kai would never be able to say why exactly he did what Tala told him to. He would never understand why he found it perfectly reasonable and natural to lean over and kiss someone he'd known for a bare few minutes. All he knew was that as he did, Tala ceased to be. He was just...gone. One second he was there, and the next he wasn't. Unable to understand and exhausted besides, Kai dragged the duvet over himself and fell asleep.

* * *

"Master Kai? Master Kai, I've brought your breakfast..." Kai jolted awake, realising that someone was knocking on his bedroom door. Oh. Janine. The maid. Yes. With a groan, he rolled over onto his back. "Just leave it outside my door, I'll get it in a minute..."

As he heard Janine's footsteps thudding away, he closed his eyes, remembering suddenly. That guy...Tala...he'd seemed so real. But it could only have been a dream. After all, angels weren't real. So it had all been a dream. Though a nice one, at that. And he still felt quite cheerful, or more cheerful than he usually did...

Kicking his way out of his blankets, he sat up, yawning and stretching until he felt a bit more awake.

He spent the day thinking about the dream he'd had. About how nice it had made him feel. About how nice it was -still- making him feel. He was in such good mood that even when his grandfather came home and railed at him for not doing brilliantly on his last mock exam, he still felt cheerful. So after spending the day thinking about the dream he'd had, he decided to go to bed early.

As he sat in his bed reading the last chapter of his book, he wished the dream had been real. It would be so nice to have someone like Tala, who wanted to hold him, even for just a little while...

When the book was over (a lame ending, in Kai's opinion), Kai turned the light off.

Unnoticed by him, a single, long red hair clung to the side of his mattress...

Fin

* * *

It doesn't make that much sense really. But, hey. R&R please! And yes, I know, my rate of posting sucks right now. But my exams are nearly over, and then...then the things I write will make (marginally more) sense and appear more than once every blue moon... 


End file.
